In a hair curling device in which a liquefied gas tank is provided interiorly of a handle, the liquefied gas is combusted by a catalyst within a barrel-like curling iron member connected to the associated handle to heat the interior of the curling iron member and a tress of hair held on the side of the curing iron member is curled into the desired shape, it is necessary to heat the catalyst. This heating of catalyst is performed by temporarily combusting the liquefied gas using electric heat.
In the conventional construction, an electric heater for temporarily igniting and combusting a liquefied gas is incorporated into a tip of a curling iron member which comprises a heating barrel. In use, an operating member on the side of a handle is first moved to open a combustion valve and next a switch of the heater is depressed to energize a coil of nichrome wire to ignite and combust the liquefied gas flow to a portion of the catalyst. After the catalyst has been heated by said combustion, the coil is deenergized and the combustion is switched to be made by the catalyst. Also in the prior arts developed as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,243,017 and 4,248,208, the ignition operation is achieved at the tip of the curling iron member.
These proposals have disadvantages that the opening and closing operation of the combustion valve and the ignition operation of the electric heater need be performed separately from each other, and that the electric heater has to be incorporated into the tip of the curling iron member, which forms the disadvantage in terms of construction.
Also, in the catalyst combustion curling device in which the teeth of a comb are provided on the circumference of the heating barrel, mounting of the teeth is accomplished by use of a cylindrical inserting member, and in many cases, the teeth are formed of synthetic resin such as nylon and molded integral with said inserting member having a number of holes.
If the cylindrical inserting member is used to mount the teeth of a comb on the circumference of the heating barrel, there poses disadvantages that since the number and size of the holes bored in the heating barrel are limited, the heat efficiency is poor and that heat is confined within the heating barrel whereby internal temperature increases more than as needed and when the device is used for a long period of time, the inserting member is softened due to heating, bringing forth deformation when subjected to external force, resulting in irregularities of teeth arrangement.
Furthermore, in the curling device of this kind, a liquefied gas emitted from a nozzle member is ignited, a catalytic member is heated by combustion heat at that time, a fire valve is then closed once to extinguish flame, the fire valve is again opened to permit the liquefied gas to flow to the catalystic member, and combustion is carried out in a non-flame condition to heat the interior of the heating barrel to a temperature suitable for curling.
As the disadvantage encountered in the catalyst combustion as described above, since the combustion occurs in the non-flame condition, it is difficult for the user to see the presence of flame and insure if the combustion is being made. In view of this, in proposals in which combustion can be insured by a position of an ignition operating lever or in which a battery is used for an ignition device, the combustion can be insured by the ignition of a small pilot lamp.
However, where a voltage device or a flint used in a gas lighter is used as an ignition device, a pilot lamp cannot be provided, and the combustion is not reliable only by the position of the ignition operating lever. Many users try to insure the combustion by the operation of the lever. Therefore, combustion does not occur unless the fire valve closed to discontinue combustion and the ignition operating lever is returned to its initial position after which the lever is operated, and therefore the products have been often erroneously judged to be defective.
Moreover, in the conventional construction, a catalytic member is press fit into a retaining member formed into a coil, the retaining member is press fit into a heating barrel and the catalytic member is fixed upwardly of a fire nozzle. As an alternative form, a retaining member in which a net is formed into a cylindrical shape is used and a catalytic member is press into and secured to a heating cylinder. In any of these proposals, however, the retaining has to be manufactured lengthy, and therefore, there poses a problem in that the weight of the heating cylinder becomes increased which involves a difficulty in use. In addition, there is another disadvantage that since the retaining member having a resiliency is forcibly pushed into the heating cylinder, the fixed position of the catalytic member is liable to produce a difference, and despite one and the same construction, different combustion sometimes occurs.